Wonder Woman
"I can't believe I loved you."-'Wonder Woman' [src] See Also: Wonder Woman (Diasambiguation) ' Wonder Woman' is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941). The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986. Wonder Woman is a warrior Princess of the Amazons (based on the Amazons of Greek mythology) and was created by Marston, an American, as a "distinctly feminist role model whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality to a world torn by the hatred of men." Known in her homeland as Diana of Themyscira, her powers include superhuman strength, flight (even though the original Wonder Woman did not have this ability), super-speed, super-stamina, and super-agility. She is highly proficient in hand-to-hand combat and in the art of tactical warfare. She also possesses an animal-like cunning and a natural rapport with animals, which has in the past been presented as an actual ability to communicate with the animal kingdom. She uses her Lasso of Truth, which forces those bound by it to tell the truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and, in some stories, an invisible airplane. Created during World War II, the character was initially depicted fighting the Axis military forces, as well as an assortment of supervillains. In later decades, some writers maintained the World War II setting, with many of its themes and story arcs, while others updated the series to reflect the present day. Wonder Woman has also regularly appeared in comic books featuring the superhero teams Justice Society (from 1941) and Justice League (from 1960). Arguably the most popular and iconic female superhero in comics, Wonder Woman is also considered a feminist icon. She was named the 20th greatest comic book character by Empire magazine. In addition to the comics, the character has appeared in other media; most notably, the 1975–1979 Wonder Woman TV series starring Lynda Carter, as well as animated series such as the Super Friends and Justice League. Although a number of attempts have been made to adapt the character to live-action film, none have yet emerged from "development hell." An animated film was released in 2009, with Keri Russell voicing the title role. In 2011, Adrianne Palicki starred in a failed pilot for a would-be series about the character. In May 2011, Wonder Woman placed fifth on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time. History Origin Diana was the daughter of Queen Hippolyta, the first child born on Paradise Island in the three thousand year history that the immortal Amazons lived there. The Amazons had been created around 1200 B.C. when the Greek goddesses drew forth the souls of all women who had been murdered by men. One soul was left behind, the one that would be born as Diana. That soul originally belonged to the unborn daughter of the first woman murdered by a man (whom Hippolyta was the reincarnation of). In the late 20th Century, Hippolyta was instructed to mold some clay from the shores of Paradise Island into the form of a baby girl. Six members of the Greek Pantheon then bonded the soul to the clay, giving it life. Each of the six also granted Diana a gift: Demeter, great strength; Athena, wisdom and courage; Artemis, a hunter's heart and a communion with animals; Aphrodite, beauty and a loving heart; Hestia, sisterhood with fire; Hermes, speed and the power of flight. Diana grew up surrounded by a legion of sisters and mothers. When she was a young woman, the gods decreed that the Amazons must send an emissary into Man's World. Queen Hippolyta ordered a contest to be held, but forbade Diana from participating. Diana disobeyed and did so anyway in disguise, easily winning the contest and being named the Amazon's champion. She was given a uniform fashioned from the standard of someone who had visited the island a few decades earlier.1 Wonder Woman did not keep her identity a secret, and she was not at first a "super-heroine". Indeed, her character was in many ways that of a babe in the woods, innocent and without guile. Diana spoke only Themyscirian, a combination of classical Greek and Turkish. She had to learn English when she arrived in America, rather than knowing the language intuitively. Nonetheless, Diana was trained as a warrior and had no compunction against using deadly force when called for. Diana often dealt with war, injustice, inequality, death, and conflicts involving the Olympian Gods. Before embarking on her mission, Diana was given the Lasso of Truth, forged by Hephaestus himself. She was also given the Sandals of Mercury, which allowed her to instantly traverse great distances in seconds. Diana's mission was one of peace, but part of it initially involved defeating a mad plot by Ares to destroy the world. Diana ventured into the world by starting at Boston. There she met a Harvard professor, Dr. Julia Kapatelis, and her daughter, Vanessa Kapatelis, as well as the Air Force Officers Steve Trevor and Etta Candy. Diana stayed with Julia and Vanessa and over the course of a month or two, Diana learned to speak English. She was attacked at their home by Decay, one of Ares' minions, and after a battle that spilled out into the streets of Boston she first came to the public's eye and was given the name Wonder Woman. Upon discovering Ares' plan (one that involved creating a nuclear holocaust), Diana managed to foil it, battling through his sons Phobos and Deimos before finally convincing him the error of his ways with the Lasso. After defeating the God of War, Diana returned home for healing at the hands of Poseidon himself. Involvement with the Teen Titans/Joining the JLA Wonder Woman had been becoming a popular female hero figure around the time of the Teen Titan's creation. And also, around this time, Wonder Woman had become part of the Justice League of America. Wonder Girl, then Donna Troy, was Diana's pupil and she had join the Teen Titans. Diana, with Batman, Flash, and Aquaman supported the teens to team-up. Mortal and Immortal Challenges After returning to Boston, Wonder Woman agreed to hire Myndi Mayer to be her publicist, getting her image out to the world at large. She spent the next several months touring the world, conducting interview and learning a lot about the world. She also met most of the Justice League, and after meeting their fearless leader Superman, she realized that she was instantly enamored with him. She also gathered the attention of Barbara Minerva, the Cheetah, who desired to take the Lasso of Truth from Diana. She lied to Wonder Woman about having found the lost Girdle of Antiope to get close to her, but after touching the Lasso her truth was made clear. Diana was frustrated and angry over her naive trust of Minerva. That same night, Barbara decided to take it by force and attacked as the Cheetah. Diana managed to fight her off, and decided it was time to return home again. The gods were pleased with Diana's work--one was a little too pleased, however. Zeus offered to make Wonder Woman a goddess if she agreed to sleep with him. Diana refused, and Zeus decreed she must be punished. The other gods managed to deflect the full brunt of Zeus's wrath. He decided that Wonder Woman must pass the Challenge of the Gods. He ordered her to go into the pits beneath Paradise Island and retrieve his fondest treasure; Diana accepts the challenge. Hippolyta was not pleased, and though she could do nothing to stop Diana from descending into the depths, she did resolve to follow after her (fighting past Phillipus first). Wonder Woman battled all number of evil monsters in the pits, from the Hydra to the Echidna, but got some help from the spirit of Diana Trevor. Diana Trevor, the mother of Steve Trevor, revealed that she had been an Air Force Pilot who crash landed on the island and then died helping the Amazons in battle. It was for her that Diana was named, and it was her standard that was used to fashion the Wonder Woman costume. Hippoylta catches up with her daughter, and together they fight even more mythological beasts until they discover Zeus's treasure: Heracles himself! The demigod had been changed to stone and made to bear the weight of the island for thousands of years. Diana and Hippolyta freed him, and brought him back to the surface. Faced with his punishment of thousands of years, Heracles was repentant and begged forgiveness for what had happened between he and the Amazons. The Amazons forgave him at last, and after a celebration he returned to Olympus. The gods were well pleased with Diana. Hippolyta was pleased as well, and ordered her daughter to return to Man's World and continue her mission. Once Wonder Woman was back, Myndi Mayer quickly arranged another publicity stunt, this time at a fair. Things got ugly, however, when the first Silver Swan arrived on the scene. Wonder Woman battled the Swan along the coast but could not capture her. Returning to Boston, Diana stayed with Vanessa while her mother was in Greece. She found herself distracted more and more with thoughts of Superman, eventually asking Myer to arrange a meeting between the two. Diana and Superman had their "date," which included a battle to free Olympus from the grip of Darkseid after he had laid waste to it. Superman and Wonder Woman decided it would be best if they just remained friends, but Superman trusted Diana enough with the secret of his dual identity. Wonder Woman is one of the few people who affectionately refers to him as "Kal." The gods decided it was time to take a vacation (or "Cosmic Migration" as they called it) even as Diana decided to go with her friends to Greece, to see the ancient home of her people. She met Julia Kapetelis's parents, but felt a strange sensation in regards to one of the smaller islands that was long said to have a bad history. As it turns out, Circe made that island her home, and she sent her minions to capture Diana and drag her back in chains. Circe revealed her whole history--including the history where she murdered Antiope, Hippolyta's sister. Circe also revealed the prophesy she learned from Hecate, who was responsible for her power, and her belief that if either she or Diana kills the other than the spirit of Hecate will consume the other. Circe resolves to use a spell that will degenerate Diana back in the clay from which she was created. Even with the help of her friends, Wonder Woman only carried the day with the timely intervention of Hermes, who had not yet left Olympus. When Diana returned to Boston, she learned of the death of Myndi Mayer--someone had apparently shot her in the face with a shotgun in her own home. A man named Steve London was framed for the death, but Diana learned that the man responsible for blasting her was a man named Skeeter Boyd. Skeeter died trying to escape from Wonder Woman, grabbing hold of an electrified fence and frying himself. He had not, in fact, actually killed Myndi--an overdose of alcohol and cocaine had killed her before he delivered the blast. Diana was left to question how something like this could happen. Called back to Paradise Island, Diana was summoned by the gods to come to Olympus with Hippolyta and Menalippe. It was still in ruins from Darkseid's rampage. The gods announced their decision to depart from the Earth, possibly forever, possibly not. They needed Diana's help to shatter what was left of Olympus so they could move on and allow the healing to begin. Their destiny now in their own hands, Diana called for a vote among the people whether or not they should open the gates of the island and allow men to come there. The Amazons voted yes, and Wonder Woman returned to Boston to invite Julia and Vanessa to be the first guests. Shadows of the Past Diana is shocked when Hermes shows up in Boston. He explains that he feels the journey of the rest of the gods is foley and seeks to assert himself, as a god, in Boston. He wins a few converts through bribes and healing, despite Diana's protestations. Hermes is tricked, however, by Phobos and the immortal gorgon, Eurayle into unleashing Ixion the Assassin from his prison beneath the Earth. Ixion went on a rampage across Boston, killing hundreds and damaging the old U.S.S. Constitution. Hermes sent Diana a supernatural call for help and she arrived just in time to confront Phobos, whom she bound with her Lasso. After attacking Ixion and flying him out of the city to prevent further death and destruction, Hermes managed to free himself and regain the Caudecus, the source of most of his godly power, and decapitated Eurayle. Meanwhile Ixion continued his battle with Diana, but even he proved to be no match for her superior strength. He told Diana about his thousands of years of torture and pleaded with her to kill him in order to end his suffering. Hermes then arrived on the scene with Phobos in tow, using his Caudecus to bind the monster, intending to imprison him once again. However Phobos gloated to Diana that the only place Ixion could be properly imprisoned was beneath Theymscira. Diana was horrified, but before the matter could be resolved further, a squadron of jet fighter appeared on the scene. Seeing a chance to finally be freed of his suffering, Ixion broke free and charged the approaching planes, who then opened fire and killed him in response. Diana blamed herself for what happened, as she had not taken a stronger position against Hermes when he first arrived.11 Wonder Woman stood along with the rest of the world's heroes to battle against the alien alliance that tried to conquer Earth during the Invasion! crossover. Cheetah next decides to resurface. She uses a pair of Khunds, still on Earth after the invasion, to create a diversion so she can steal Wonder Woman's magic lasso. Suspecting that Dr. Barbara Minerva stole the lariat (but not knowing yet that she and Cheetah are one and the same) Wonder Woman travels to Minvera's home in England (this coincides with a trip to the first meeting of Justice League Europe, but Diana decides not to remain part of the team at this time). Minerva's manservant, Mr. Chuma, poisons Diana and proceeds to tell her the whole story of how Minerva became Cheetah. The poison has no effect on Diana, however, and she tracks Cheetah to Egypt where out in the hidden city of Bana-Mighdall she finds the lost colony of Amazons. Their leader, Queen Anahid incapacitated Diana with a poisonous dart and locked her up. The high priestess tries to kill Diana but dies when Diana tosses her across the room and she ends up swallowing the same poison dart Queen Anahid used on Diana earlier. Diana breaks free and realizes that Cheetah will be on the prowl that very night--but she is still groggy from the poison. The mercenary Amazons had been hired to pacify a nearby village. Armed for war, Wonder Woman fights them back and is attacked by Cheetah. After a vicious battle, Wonder Woman defeats her adversary and locks her up (Chuma is slain by gunfire during the fight). Queen Anahid, mortally injured by Cheetah, dies after commanding that Diana be spared. The Amazons call off the raid and tell her their history. They are indeed the descendants of Antiope, Hippolyta's sister, though they are not immortal (see Antiope, Pythia). They have in their possession the other Golden Girdle of Gaea. They are a nation of mercenaries and have been since Antiope's death. Pythia, blaming Theseus and all men for her mother's death, was their first leader (see also Circe). The city is attacked by Hermes, who has learned of the rogue Amazons and is extremely angry. He has come for the Golden Girdle. Diana manages to convince him to cease his attack. One of the Amazons, Faruka, decides to use all the chaos to try and seize power, using a (cyborg?) Amazon called Shim'tar. With Hermes weakened by Gaea's status, Diana fights Shim'tar alone, battling to a standstill. The Egyptian government, outraged over the massacre at one of their villages, orders an air strike on the hidden city. Not even Hermes is able to intervene. The entire city is destroyed, leaving Wonder Woman, Minerva, and Hermes alone in the desert. Wonder Woman has recovered both her lasso and the Golden Girdle. After a brief stop back in Boston, Diana returns the Girdle to her mother on Themyscira.13 The time has come for Themyscira to welcome the world more openly. Twelve delegates are chosen: Asmund Lindel, the Norway delegate to the U.N.; Maritza Nitumbe, a South African botanist; Phyllis Haller, an American feminist bestselling author and sociologist; Vladimir Morakov, a Russian neurosurgeon; Robert Cantwell, Scottish history teacher and war veteran; Rabbi Benjamin Hecht and Unitarian minister Reverand Alan Withersppon, the only two religious leaders to respond to Diana's invitation (the Vatican was silent); Lin Koo Teng, a survivor of Tienamen Square; Rovo Quashi, a blind man from Ethiopia; Henri Tibet, a paraplegic architect from Canada; Felix Zumac, a Haithian zoologist and anthropologist; and Lois Lane, everybody's favorite reporter from the Daily Planet. Hermes, shedding his immortality, grants Diana the ability to use her winged sandals to take the delegates to Themyscira. The delegates all arrive to a magnificent greeting by the Amazons. No one suspects that Eris, daughter of Ares, is plotting discord. She nearly succeeds in turning everyone against one another when her plans are discovered and thwarted. The delegates all deliver their favorable report to the U.N. while the Amazons commence the cleanup. Julia is on a dig overseas and Vanessa is at summer camp. Hermes, shorn of some of his divinity, has been staying with Steve Trevor. Wonder Woman had her second run in with the Silver Swan, now more powerful than ever, when Valerie was attempting to escape from her "benefactors." Wonder Woman and Etta Candy were captured by Hank Armbruster's thugs, but working together they were able to break free. Using her Lasso on Armbruster, Diana was able to unveil the depth of his lies to Valerie. The Swan walked away, no longer the villain.15 With Themyscira known to the world and the gods departed from Earth, Queen Hippolyta decided it was indeed time to take a more active role. The Amazons removed their bracelets and decided to come to Man's World and see all that it had to offer.16 Hippolyta, Menalippe, Phillipus, and other came to stay at a hotel in Gotham City. Diana encountered Hermes again, who had rebuilt a temple unto himself and proceeded to hit on Diana again--or did he? This Hermes turned out to be Mercury, and Wonder Woman had to help the true Hermes battle his "evil twin" at their temple. Mercury was able to win the battle, taunting the humbled Hermes as he departed the field. Hippolyta and the others decided they needed to present themselves as more than just an extension of Wonder Woman, and Steve Trevor told her that he needed some space as well, as Etta was growing jealous of the two of them. When Vanessa also got angry at Diana for being late to her birthday party and even Julia wanted some space, Diana decided to return home to recharge. While at home, Diana was contacted in her sleep by Hermonia as well as Pariah, both of whom offered warnings about an impending crisis. Waking from this nightmare Diana seemed to drift into another one, this one involving a badly beaten and injured Hermes. Diana suspected that Circe was behind her ill fortune lately. 17 Back in Boston, Wonder Woman encountered Hermes--who announced his intention to destroy Boston. Diana told him she would never let it be so--but from Hermes' point of view, it was the Amazon who was threatening the city, and so they began to battle one another, all because of the illusions of Dr. Psycho, who had been posing as a therapist for Vanessa. Diana and Hermes stopped short of killing one another when one of Vanessa's teachers interrupted the insane villain. Diana and Hermes, relieved of their delusions, join together to track down their tormentor. Realizing that he had been twisting the mind of Vanessa as well, Diana was able to share her thoughts with Vanessa and track him down in his lair. There she found Vanessa's teacher, whose unborn baby had been tortured by Dr. Psycho as well. Meanwhile, the Amazons are attacked in their hotel by masked assassins, who also murder the police officers at the building and frame it on the Amazons themselves. The word quickly spreads, and by the time she takes the injured teacher to the hospital, the police try to arrest her for murder. Diana protests their innocence while alerting the police to the location of Dr. Psycho, whom she left tied up with her Lasso. However, when the police arrive, he is no where to be found; the Lasso is tied to a chair but no one is there. Before the Boston P.D. take her in, she convinces them to allow her to help deliver the child, which she successfully does. A news report indicated that armed Amazons broke into the hotel in Gotham and slaughtered police and civilians alike. Added by Darkseid01Wonder Woman allowed herself to be taken into custody where she learned the horrible tally: Hippolyta was missing, Philippus was gravely injured, Menalippe and Epione had been arrested (the former with injuries), Mnemosyne and Timandra had been arrested in other cities, Pythia and Euboea were unaccounted for, and Hellene had been killed. There was also an unidentified Amazon who was killed at the hotel, prompting a scare that there could be dozens of murderous Amazons running about. Vanessa comes to the police station with news her mother is missing. Diana manages to convince the police to let her see the unidentified Amazon. The dead woman is unknown to her, but the tell-tale claw marks raking her body lead her to believe she was killed by the Cheetah. Commissioner Gordon reluctantly order Diana arrested, but Diana, fearful for the safety of her friends, breaks out of the jail. Recovering her Lasso, she frees Menalippe from her hospital before catching up with Pythia and Euboea and taking them all back to Paradise Island. War of the Gods At home, many of her Amazons sisters are crying out for vengeance, believing their queen to have been murdered. Diana asserts herself as the rightful leader of the Amazons, no matter what they decide to do. As they are debating, the Oracle announces that the gods have returned. No sooner does she do so when Diana is summoned to Mt. Olympus. The gods announced that something was terribly wrong with the order of things. They too had seen Pariah and did not understand his importance. Zeus had expended much of his power just summoning Hermes from the Earth, and it had taken the combined energy of the rest of the pantheon to summon Diana there. They told her that Donna Troy had also turned up. Just then, a new set of beings walked in like they owned the place--it was the Roman pantheon, led by Jupiter himself. The Roman gods announced that they had a human champion that would battle against the Greek's Wonder Woman--that champion was none other than Captain Marvel. Diana was forced to defend herself against a possessed Captain Marvel even while Hermes and Mercury engaged in round two. Wonder Woman defeated Captain Marvel. Circe began to unveil her master plan, unleashing chaos across the globe.20 While Wonder Woman was on Olympus, Heracles traveled to Paradise Island. Once there, earthquakes began to rock the island. Traveling beneath it, Heracles found Atlas with the island on his shoulders. This was the Roman Atlas, and he mistook Heracles for Hercules. Once they got that straightened out, they were just as confused as anyone. Back in the U.S., Mnemosyne, Timandra, and Epione were being transported by a military escort that was attacked by Amazons--but no Amazons the three prisoners recognized! These Amazons left a few survivors in the escort to tell the tale, then gassed the three prisoners and took them with them. Diana, after her victory over Marvel, was transported back to Boston. Diana ended up at the house of a police inspector, Edward Indelicato, whom she was friends with. She recounted her story and Edwards agreed to help her. Diana, sensing that Circe truly was to blame for all the madness going on, decided that she had to track down Doctor Fate for assistance, who gave her a spell that made her invisible so she could return to Boston. The spell wore off when she (literally) ran into the Silver Swan, which was dumb luck as Valerie had been looking for Diana to give her some guidance. Diana had little to give, however, as distracted as she was by everything else going on.22 A call to Black Canary put Diana in contact with Batman, whom she asked to retrieve the missing Themysciran goblet that she believed would help exonerate her people for the massacre in Gotham. Diana then banded together with Zatanna, Phantom Stranger, Spectre, Dr. Fate, Flash (Wally West), Madame Xanadu, and Geo-Force to try and undo the spells Circe had woven. Circe had expected this, and planned on cultivating the energy from the spells the group was now casting--but her plan backfired and her spells were undone: yet the war continued. Circe had been betrayed by her ally Kaslak. In addition to replacing the relics Circe needed for her spell, he also allowed Pythia into Circe's lair. Phytia managed to free her captured sisters as well as Julia Kapatelis. Wonder Woman met back up with Batman, who had recovered the Goblet, but told her that it was, in fact, a forgery that had been coated with some unknown material. Diana followed the trail back to Egypt, were she discovered the temple of Bana-Mighdall that she thought had been destroyed. There she found Lobo battling Shim'tar. When some more Rouge Amazons arrived, Diana had Lobo fight them while she tackled Shim'tar, demanding to know what had become of her mother. After a tough battle, Diana manages to strike Shim'tar to the ground--only to unmask her and find that it was none other than Hippolyta!24 Now the truth finally came together. Cheetah had a confrontation with Edward Indelicato and explained the whole truth to him. While she had been in prison, Circe's minion Mikos came to her, transforming her permanently into the form of the Cheetah--although now, Minerva's mind remained fully in control. Circe was hardly benevolent, however, and insisted that Cheetah join her bestiamorph army. Cheetah was to help Kaslak steal the proper artifacts for Circe to cast her spell. This included the Goblet, which Circle resolved to switch with a fake that would suit her own ends. She engaged the remnants of the Rogue Amazons, all part of a plot to discredit Diana and Themyscira. She also hired Doctor Psycho to keep Diana distracted. When Hippolyta touched the fake goblet in Gotham, it transformed her into the new Shim'tar. Mikos removed Shim'tar from the building but failed to get the real goblet after Maxie Zeus's assassins showed up, hired by Cheetah to try and double cross Circe. Phillipus was attacked by one of the Rogue Amazons at the scene and witnessed Helene's death at the hands of the Cheetah.25 Time was running out for Wonder Woman. She tracked down Hermes, but he was unable (or unwilling) to heal Hippolyta, so Diana resolved to take her mother back to Paradise Island. She was attacked en route by fighters, but with the help of Starman she managed to evade them. On the shores of the Island, she would face Circe at last. Circe had fought her way through Hermes to get to Diana, but she would not simply kill the Amazon and risk Hecate's curse. Cutting them off from other heroes gathered on the Island (Starman, Hawkwoman, Aquaman, and Dolphin), Circe used her magic to revert Diana back into the clay of the island, the very same clay from which she was born. Having destroyed Wonder Woman, Circe departed, ready to grasp final victory. As the Amazons mourned their fallen princess, Superman rallied Earth's heroes for the final battle. Diana was not dead--not completely. Her soul was collected by Phantom Stranger, Spectre, and Deadman. They told her that Klarion the Witch Boy had been responsible for disrupting Circe's spells. Superman, meanwhile, lead the charge against Olympus itself, where the confused Greek and Roman pantheons were still committed to destroying each other. When Circe's deceptions were made clear, she was transported back to the limbo realm where she had slain Hermes. There she found Donna Troy and Wonder Woman--restored to life. Diana battled the evil witch, and this time her power was the greater, for Hecate's power left Circe. The witch was seemingly killed, but Hecate was denied Diana's soul. The gods decided to depart again, but the long war was finally over27 (see War of the Gods for more details about this arc as a whole). The war had been costly. Much of the Island was in ruins and would need to be rebuilt, and Menalippe and other Amazons had lost their lives. The United Nations, thankfully, fully exonerated Themyscira from all charges, and Queen Hippolyta was alive and well. Diana returned to the U.S. just in time to attend Vanessa's Junior High graduation. Conflict at Home and Beyond the Stars Wonder Woman was called to action by Superman when Brainiac seized control of Warworld and started to head for Earth. Superman decided that Earth could not wait for this invasion, they had to launch a preemptive strike, and so recruited Diana and many of the world's other heroes.29 While Batman gathered a team to defend Earth from any advanced warriors, Diana traveled with Superman and other heroes to Warworld. She fought bravely there, but her role was a minor one. Diana spent some time with Vanessa and Julia, until she learned from Edward Indelicato that the Cheetah had been captured in the Balkans, in a country called Pan Balgravia, by their new president, Baron Von Nastraed. Diana contacted the god Proteus prior to leaving, enlisting her help to create a false identity, Diana Prince. Lacking knowledge of the region, she decided to enlist Deathstroke for help. Inspector Indelicato decided to come along as well. The first location that they were lead to turned out to be a trap and they had to fight their way through some royal guards. Capturing one, Wonder Woman used her Lasso to learn that the Baron had secret and dummy prisons set up all over--and he also had mass graves. Diana and Slade went undercover to the finest restaurant in the country, where they managed to meet the Baron and get him to agree to another meeting. On the way to the meeting, Deathstroke announced that he was parting ways, prompting a fight between he and Wonder Woman that she won. After tossing Deathstroke in the trunk of the car and having Indelicato stand guard, she broke into the Baron's castle. The Baron was no so naive as they would have hoped, however, and was waiting for her with several demonic thugs.31 Deathstroke quickly recovered, however, and some of his "friends" showed up as backup. Wonder Woman was thrown in a magic cage but managed to force her way out. Barbara Minerva, reverted back to human form, was in the cell next to her, very weak from her long torment. She explained that the demon ruler needed a powerful female host for its mate. The Baron and his associate, Mr. Drax, began their demonic ritual as Deathstroke arrived on scene. As Wonder Woman fought the demon Drax, Deathstroke went after the Baron. Minerva, lapping up some spilled blood, reverts back into the Cheetah, and dives through the portal that Drax had opened, sealing it and destroying Drax in the process. The Baron vanishes into thin air after Deathstroke plunges a dagger into him--but at least the nation is now free again.32 Wonder Woman was prepared to testify at Indelicato's hearing, but no charges were filed against him. Outside the police station, Diana met a distraught woman who claimed her daughter had been kidnapped by her husband. The man in question got on the wrong side of some drug dealers who were shot and killed during a meeting he had with them, prompting to grab a briefcase full of money (and his daughter) and run for it. The race was on to see if the police could catch up to him before mafiosi--but luckily, Diana made it there first, rescuing the little girl and preventing her from getting shot. Doctor Psycho was still on the prowl, and he used his powers to continue to torment Vanessa in her dreams.34 Wonder Woman was approached by a man named Asquith Randolph, the White Magician, for a mission that would take her into space, where she was needed to save the life of a female astronaut (Tasha) on an experimental Russian spacecraft. When she was on board, Randolph detonated an explosive and the ship was catapulted through space. Diana managed to get it under control, but they were still rocketing into the unknown. After drifting for two weeks through space, their ship was salvaged--but their rescuers were only interested in making them slaves. The slavers stripped them of their clothing and equipment and dropped them on a prison world--a prison world populated entirely by females. Tasha and Diana were bruised and battered--but not broken. They were prisoners for months (on that planet) working in the quarries. A Khund prisoner frequently fought Diana. There was another prisoner, a Daxamite, who was kept in chains as a warning to the rest. After finally learning some of the other aliens' language, Diana learned their tormentors were called the Sangtree and that they existed entirely as one gender for a century, than changed to the other. She finally managed to rally some of the other prisoners, destroying the Sangtree power station, capturing their starship, and freeing the imprisoned Daxamite. Taking up the role of a kind of space pirate, Diana worked hard, recruiting more ships and allies as she carved her way across the Sangtree Empire. One of her new friends creates an artificial eye to replace one of the eyes the Daxamite lost. The new Daxamite is named Julia by Diana and she agrees to fight. Despite treachery from within, Diana is able to force a confrontation with the Sangtree emperor and get him (or her?) to admit the folly of his people's ways. With some help from Julia, Diana finally is able to make it back home. Randolph had weaseled his way into the position of "Hero of Boston" during her absence. Diana returned either just before, or perhaps the day of, the Death of Superman . Either way, she was not there to help fight Doomsday . The monster tore through Justice League America before being put down by the Man of Steel--at the cost of Superman's own life. Diana gathered with past and present JLA members to mourn the death of their friend.36 She held a place of honor during his funeral procession, and was one of the ones who actually closed the lid on the sarcophagus.37 Diana gathered with the other heroes to pay a last respect--every year on Christmas Eve, Superman read some of the thousands of pieces of mail directed to him. Diana found one letter thanking Superman for help, even though her house was destroyed and her husband had left her. While the others rebuilt the woman's house, Diana tracked down the husband, who was unaware of what had happened.38 The Justice League was in need of being rebuilt after Doomsday's rampage, so Wonder Woman agreed to come aboard as the new field leader.39 See the Justice League entry under "Justice Leagues" for more information about Diana's time as leader of Justice League America. On her Own in the World Diana was shocked when she returned to Paradise Island to find it missing--the entire island simply was gone! Diana did not know what to make of it, so she went back to Boston and decided to get a job. Now, despite the fact that she was now working for the Justice League, and that she had apparently made a lot of money via merchandising thanks to Myndi Mayer, and the fact that she was Wonder Woman, Diana resolved to look for a job in the classified adds. No one seemed interested... in hiring WONDER WOMAN. So she got a job at TacoWhiz, presumably so she could better understand the common man (and woman). She also got her own apartment.40 Diana then met a man named Micah Rains who offered her a job (Rains was, according to Indelicato, a total "whackjob") as a kind of P.I. The White Magician was careful to always be close by, stealing the limelight. Diana continued her work at the TacoWhiz while desperately trying to make a difference in some people's lives. Doctor Fate, Inza, finally reached Wonder Woman, offering her help at discovering what had happened to Themyscira. The two went back to the sight of the former island, where Fate was able to use a spell to let them see events of the last few moments of the island. It seems that a golden statue in Diana's likeness washed up on the shore. The Amazons brought it before Hippolyta, but then something happened--a bright flash of light and an explosion--and the island was no more. Convinced her mother was dead, Diana knew that Circe must be at fault. Dr. Fate was able to track her down, but when they arrived in Circe's lair, all they found were her remains--she was apparently killed in the same deadly spell she used to obliterate Paradise Island.41 Wonder Woman began to believe there was a connection between all the recent crimes that involved hi-tech gadgets. Diana began investigating. She also went out shopping with Etta for a wedding dress and realized (after Etta passed out) that her friend was starving herself to look thinner. While talking with Etta about it, the Flash showed up, warning Diana about a hit on her and that Mayfly was the hitwoman. No sooner did he get out his warning when Mayfly showed up guns blazing. With Etta and Flash's help, Diana managed to defeat Mayfly--but was shot in the process! While Diana recuperated in the hospital, Mayfly was murdered in her cell by an attorney named Donna Milton, who was working for Ares Buchanan, the supplier of the hi-tech arms and the one who hired Mayfly. Donna was carrying his child as well.42 Donna Milton then introduced herself to Diana, feeding her a story of her life that caused Diana to remark "nearly every terrible thing that can happen to a woman has happened to you." This, of course, was the idea. Diana was quickly taken in by the charming Donna. Ares Buchanan was, naturally, an avatar for the god Ares, who was not so prepared to completely abandon the Earth. He had easily corrupted the White Magician, making him one of his lieutenants alongside Donna Milton. After weeks of friendship, Donna betrayed her to Ares. When Donna refused to let Ares torture her, however, he shot her and then prepared to shoot Diana. With a powerful spell from Ares, Diana was unable to break the chains that had bounded her. Donna, using one Ares' weapons, created an explosion that left her and Diana plunging down hundreds of feet into a watery chamber beneath Ares' lair. The fall should have killed Donna but they survived and Donna went into labor. While Diana delivered the child, the White Magician contacted Ares's mafia boss, Sazia, letting him know that Ares Buchanan had died in the explosion and they had to act quickly to hold his power together. Sazia was not interested, however, and attempted to shoot the Magician...so the magician killed him instead. The White Magician, whose powers were increasing because of his connection to a demonic realm, began to transform some of his lackeys into supervillains. One of them, Dreadnaught, attacked Diana at the hospital--another attacked the Kapateles house, kidnapping Vanessa and seriously crippled Julia. Wonder Woman was able to save the day before more of his thugs could kill Etta and Steve. Her patience having run out, Diana contacted some of the mafia men connected to the Magician and warned them they had one hour to return Vanessa unharmed. When they failed to comply, Diana began to tear apart the gang, tracking down all of their outfits and demolishing them, leaving the words "No quarter, no sanctuary" as she went. Mrs. Sazia, the new head of the Sazia crime family, decided to betray the Magician to get Diana off their back. Diana found the Magician's lair and rescued Vanessa, but the Magician himself was not there. Diana, plagued by nightmares, began to have doubt about her instability. She sought out Superman and asked him to stop her if she ever got too out of control. This was after the police nearly arrested her for her recent behavior. Luckily, Doctor Fate returned and told Diana that she had been having the same nightmares--dreams about the end of Themyschra. Replaying the spell that showed the end of the island, Diana guessed that maybe it hadn't really been destroyed--it was all a complex illusion created by the witch Circe. Diana unveiled Dr. Fate, who was really Circe in disguise (or at least, an illusion of her). Circe revealed that she had not destroyed Paradise Island, but rather she had found a way to relocate it to the realm of fire where the Amazons had been fighting for their lives every day since their imprisonment. Circe offered to return the island--if Diana sacrificed an innocent life. She gave her until midnight. Battling through Circe's illusions, Diana could not save the life of a young runaway named Cynthia who was struck and killed by a car. With her death, however, Paradise Island was restored.45 Category:Heroes Category:Justice League Unlimited Characters Category:Justice League Characters Category:Batman: the Brave and the Bold Characters Category:Justice League members Category:Fast food Category:Justin Category:Kevin michael richarson Category:Mediamass Category:Werewolves